By Sunil Agnihotri

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Thoughts on the Oilers: HNIC; Fighting; Fans; NASSS Conference

Another awful loss at home on Hockey Night in Canada this past weekend. Would be nice to get a win on HNIC. CBC does a good job showcasing the teams and get a big audience, but unfortunately, the Oilers can’t get their act together. The last two high profile HNIC games for the Oilers have been losses with their team weaknesses being exposed.

Not easy going on CBC After Hours to talk about the loss, but Ference did a nice job explaining the struggles on Saturday. I’m a big fan of the show, mainly because it’s pretty raw, so you got to see just how disheartening the loss was for the captain. You can view the interview here: CBC After Hours.

The Oilers are starting up a four game roadtrip tonight. Let’s hope this group figures it out and shows up with a better strategy and effort.

Fighting

Not at all surprised by the Emery-Holtby “fight” this past weekend. Situations where one goalie pummels another unwilling participant can be expected in a league that supports fighting and has very subjective rules. And as long as these things happen, the league will continue to be a niche sport in the world.

Even though the Flyers won their next game after their embarrassing loss, you’ll be hard pressed to convince me that the line-brawl had any influence. The majority of fights are just side shows, that slow down the game and either results in a 20 second wrestling match and/or a serious brain injury. Really isn’t my thing.

Fans

With the Oilers on a five game skid and back-to-back home ice shut-out losses, there’s a real nasty vibe among the fans. The in-house crowd showed their displeasure and the online world is just a depressing place right now.

Sunil Agnihotri is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s Communications and Technology Master’s program. His research focused on online communities, information management and communication technology. His final project used sociocultural theories and concepts to examine the blogging activity of hockey fans. Sunil can be reached at sunilagni23@gmail.com or on Twitter @sunilagni.